House cats are invasive everywhere they run wild, as are dogs, ferrets, rats, and many other domesticated animals....
On Nov 20, 2007 6:29 PM, Blanc, Lori <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi all -- > > In all the discussion so far about introduced/invasive/non-native > species, I don't recall seeing any mention of cats. > > I've heard a lot about the impacts of cats on wildlife in Australia, but > not as much about cats here in the U.S. Indeed - this can be a > sensitive issue, since so many people have cats for pets, and let the > cats have free roam outside. For example, I recently saw an article in > the New York Times (Nov 13), which presented the case of a birder in > Texas who shot a feral cat, which he had observed stalking endangered > piping plovers. This case is in court, with many people upset about the > cruel treatment (i.e. shooting) of the cat. The person who shot the cat > faces up to 2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for shooting the cat. > > So, this raises a few questions: > > 1) Are house cats considered an invasive species in North America? > 2) Do cats have a significant negative impact on avian populations in > North America? > > I realize that I can do a quick literature search on this topic to learn > more, but I'm also curious to see what the general opinions are of the > ecologists on this listserv, especially within the context of the recent > invasive species discussion. > > Thanks, > > Lori > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Lori Blanc, Ph.D. > Dept. of Biological Sciences > Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University > 540-231-5256 > --=20 James J. Roper, Ph.D. Ecologia e Din=E2micas Populacionais de Vertebrados Terrestres Caixa Postal 19034 81531-990 Curitiba, Paran=E1, Brasil E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Telefone: 55 41 33857249 Mobile: 55 41 99870543 http://www.bio.ufpr.br/ecologia/ Ecologia e Conserva=E7=E3o na UFPR http://jjroper.googlespages.com Personal Pages
